Yes, I said it. Being on the frontline for too long. So, you'll tell me : I CAN'T SIT MAH ASS AT THE FOB. OR CAN'T STAY AT THE FRONTLINE BRO !

You have to keep moving. You have to be able to withdraw your men, to launch other offensives. But yeah, still there, your squad cohesion will be fucked. And all your marines will be scattered on the entire map.

Here are some tips during fights that can help :

- When you launch an offensive where other squads are : TELL YOUR MEN TO STAY ON A DESIGNATED FLANK. When crossing the river, I ask for my men to stay on the LEFT or on the RIGHT. My usual thing is to say : RIGHT FLANK ! RIGHT FLANK ! STAY ON THE RIGHT FLANK ! IF YOU ARE NOT SURROUNDED BY DELTAS : YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG !

Marines, sadly, are like sheeps. They follow the mass. But if you make in sort that the mass is still your squad, you reduce the amount of marines that'll fuck off at the other side of the frontline. Which means you can keep them around the "L" above your head, and keep doing pushes, last stand and flanks.

- Keep on talking to your marines. When you fall back for reloading, the marines will take your place (usually). That means you have 30 seconds to tell your wounded men to evac (Just a "Evac and take care marine" or a "Good shit on that kill SG !" and even a "Thanks for covering my ass X"). Just that and you'll keep your marines knowing that there is a bond between you and them. A bond that the fight cannot destroy. (In fact, the fact can destroy that bond, but you musn't let it known to your boys).

- NEVER DEFEATISM. The only thing you can say is FALL BACK. But if you start panicking and stay : WE ARE DOOMED ! OH SHIT ! COMMAND IS GAY. Then, you'll trully fuck the morale of your squad. Think about that sentence : "I LOVE THE CORPS ! ANOTHER WONDERFUL DAY IN THE CORPS".

- REGROUP AND RALLY : After a push, after a retreat, give 60 to 240 sec to your squad to either rally on you, either rally on a designated location. Repeat at least 3 times, every 30 to 60 sec your order.

- USE REGROUP AND RALLY TIME TO JOKE/COMMUNICATE : You have between 60 to 240 sec to joke, tell your marines they are gay, use your gaydar to detect Charlie's gayness, say that Alicia Parker has a nice a-armor and that Laura Fox has huge bo-beautiful eyes. This time is your SL's time, your oxygen. Use it to breath, to smile, and to regain cohesion and will across your manpower.

- DETECT LACK OF COHESION : If your screen is not filled with marines wearing your squad colors, it means you are on a fight for a too long time, your squad lost you, or marines are doing jackshit without you. Order a rally on your location, try to move on the main frontline area, get men, and then get away from the frontline (to avoid marines getting back there like flies on honey).
When marines are on an assault or on a lack of action for a too long period, they will drop their brains next to their keyboard and won't listen anymore. Use caps lock like a 11 years-old on Call of Duty and get their attention. Small sentences, huge words, impact orders : RALLY ! GET BACK HERE ! HEY DIPSHITS : RALLY ! (Things like that).

_______________________________

CONCLUSION : WHY THE FUCK DO I MAKE THAT POST ?

To help you consider the fact that.. If your squad cohesion is catastrophicly low, don't bother issue orders to your men. That won't matter.
The only thing that you can make is to try to grab a handful of marines, and keep them around you, to get that squad cohesion up.

And if you feel that your squad cohesion is at its max, think about your most bold tactics. Flanking, Pushing, Holding. Because you know that your men are behind you. You know that they are ALL here. All their rifles, their ability, their focus is HERE to make your ORDERS accomplished.

And, by the way : enjoy yourself and the men around you. Do not forget that good comms make everyone's day.

Last edited by Kesserline on 12 Feb 2018, 03:47, edited 1 time in total.

If you play SL, or find yourself as aSL, it is VERY important that you stay alive early in the round. I find that squads that lose their SSGT in the first few conflicts usually just fall apart.

This is another valuable post from a skilled leader in the field, the only thing I really have to add to Kesserline's tips is that getting an early xenos kill can boost morale, especially if everyone is helping chase it down.

Never say "RETREAT." Only say "EVAC" if you intend for a full planet wide evac. Instead, try saying "Fallback to _insert place/you_ or "Regroup __insert you/place."
Don't ask for casualties in squad comms SLs and SOs should, if at all, give squad casualties via SL-only transmitted messages using the console.

Best way I find to "fix" squad cohesion as a SL is yelling RALLY ON ME or, as a SO, yelling it. As a SO people really jump to it...or try to.
Sometimes a squad can be too spread out due to casualties. Two choices here for SLs and SOs. Either keep them like that so you don't weaken the front or have them regroup at a close, but not totally engaged area

Cassius 'Santa' Klaus
Johann 'Krampus' Klaus

St Joseph of Cupertino - Patron saint of air travelers, aviators, astronauts, people with a mental handicaps, test takers and poor students.

Dying is the quickest way to fuck up your squad cohesion, so never put yourself in extreme danger. A squad that loses its SL will almost always retreat unless Command promotes a Spec/Engi and he's competent. If you have to do something dangerous like planting an OB, order a small push and try to fit it in before you get counter-pushed

Always give precise move orders. "Follow Me" is nice but if some baldies break off to chase a kill and they can't find you, you're going to shed people fast. Never trust the SL pointer over long distances/large moves. "Evac" or "fall back" is terrible because people will run off to the FOB if they can, always give a proper fall back point and tell them to move there

As a SL you're usually in charge of the minute tactical shit while the PFCs are in charge of shooting. If you're getting flanked, your squad needs to know asap

TO COMMAND. NEVER PROMOTE A FUCKING MEDIC TO aSL. MEDICS NEVER HAVE THE TIME TO LEAD BECAUSE HEALING PEOPLE AND ASKING FOR MEDEVACS IS A 24/7 JOB. Medics are also never in pushes because they need to stay back to heal people

Problem is idle Marines are bored Marines. Command needs to keep squads rotating with eachother, running patrols and scouting missions. You keep a squad in one place too long they're going to get bored. The rare times I SL, I quickly get permission from Command during combat to take my men around another way in an attempt to flank. I typically manage to keep squads together, but SL is so high stress to me I don't find a whole lot of enjoyment in it.

Kane "Saint" Romano - Laid back kid just trying to see the galaxy. Reveres the dead, and takes it upon himself to record all the actions and deaths of the Battalion to pass on.
Dossier ---> viewtopic.php?f=91&t=16104

One thing I would add is that a devastating blow to squad cohesion is metarush on certain maps. On LV especially, once you send your squad to Hydro it's basically open season. They're just gonna rush across the river, fight into TFort or Cargo, and paradoxically the better Marines perform the more likely they are to merge into an amorphous tri-color mega squad.

One thing I would add is that a devastating blow to squad cohesion is metarush on certain maps. On LV especially, once you send your squad to Hydro it's basically open season. They're just gonna rush across the river, fight into TFort or Cargo, and paradoxically the better Marines perform the more likely they are to merge into an amorphous tri-color mega squad.

and then they don't follow any fucking order. just push into cargo/caves and die shoot

This is why I ask people how they’re doing or where they’re from, purely because of two things A. I like hearing about it, and B. If comms are lively, then that means your squad can and will communicate. It’s really really helpful and important. I generally yell out “MOVE EAST!” Or “NORTH!! LETS GET SOME!” Something along those lines because it gives a general direction, and sounds cool. It’s like a “GET EM BOYS!” Situation.
I only ask for KIAs via command comms. NEVER ask for them from squad channel. It WILL slaughter your morale right there.